Lipstick holder and the like



Sept. 16, 1952 E, NQYACK 2,610,734

LIPSTICK HOLDER AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 5, 1950 A? 5 /7 3 7 Z/ /6 7 ATT RNEY Patented Sept. 16, 1952 2,610,734 LIPSTICK HOLDER AND THE LIKE Edward Noyack, Seymour, Conn., assignor to The Risdon Manufacturing Company, Naugatuck, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application October 5 1950, Serial No. 188,575 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) This invention relates to holders for lipsticks and the like of the kind adapted to project the stick from the holder, and retract it again, by

rotary motion. It relates particularly to those rotary holders which have the propelling and retracting mechanism disposed beneath the stick. Such holders can be of rather small diameter relative to the diameter of the stick and, accordingly, can be made rather long relative to their diameter without being cumbersome. The holders can be used for sticks other than lipsticks of course, as well as for lipsticks, but since they are used principally for lipsticks at present, they are referred to hereafter for brevity,

substantially only as lipstick holders.

Speaking generally, a lipstick holder of the type indicated consists principally of a cylindrical outer shell which is open at its upper end for projection of the stick, an elevator within the outer shell to carry the stick, an elongated threaded member attached to and projecting below the elevator, and a complementary member threaded to the elongated member as it were so that rotation of another shell or a finger piece, while the outer shell is held stationary, reciprocates the elongated member and elevator. Usually in practice heretofore, the elongated member has had the form of a twisted bar, the twists providing its threading, or the form of a flat bar serrated at its edges, the serrations acting as a thread. Occasionally such devices fail to operate smoothly, perhaps due to the rather crude form of thread or to the small area of contact between the bar and the complementary member. Also it has been proposed heretofore to make the elongated and complementary members in the form of convoluted tubes or shells. This provides a rather large area of contact between the two members, but

the convoluted-tube holders heretofore proposed have not been well suited for large scale production under factory conditions.

The present invention substantially eliminates the foregoing difficulties of holders in which the elongated member is in the form of a twisted v or serrated bar, by employing convoluted tubes or shells, but it does so in such a manner that the holder can be madeon a large scale and cheaply. Briefly, to this end, the holder has an outer shell, an elevator reciprocatable in the outer shell to project and retract the stick, an operating member at the lower portion of the with their convolutions inter-engaging, one be ing connected to the elevator, and one being connected non-rotatably to the elevator-containing' outer shell and the other connected non rotatably to the operating member. At least preferably, either the outer shell or the operating member, or each of them, is cylindrical in form and encloses and lies close to the outer of the convoluted tubes to give those tubes sidewise support as they may need. Preferably the elevator is mounted non-rotatable relative to the outer shell, and preferably by the use of a pierced diaphragm or the like within the outer shell. Preferably also the operating member is connected to both the outer shell and one of the convoluted tubes by a single connection; These and other matters of the invention appear in the lipstick holder shown in the accompanying drawing and described hereafter.

I It will be noted that wherever the words up or down or the like are used herein, up" and the like indicate the direction toward the end of the holder from which the lipstick is protruded for use, and "down and the like indicate the opposite directions. t

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a lipstick holder embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a cross section on line IIII of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the elongated member of the holder of Fig.'1 and the convoluted tube which is attached to it.

The outer portion of the holder illustrated comprises two members, one of which consists of a cylindrical tubular shell I and an auxiliary cylindrical tubular shell'Z, and the other of which comprises the finger piece 3 which cons'titutes the operating member in the present instance. The auxiliary tubular shell 2 is of a slightly smaller diameter than the shell I, is open at its upper end, and at its lower end has a diaphragm 4 pierced with a non-circular hole 5. The lower end of the auxiliary shell 2 is set friction tight into the open upper end of the shell 7 I; it can be provided with external projections if desired, such as circumferential ribs 6 for example, to hold it rotationally and longitudinally stationary with respect to the shell I. The lower end of the shell I is provided with an inturned flange I. The construction of this outer shell from two parts I and 2 is primarily a. matter of convenience, i. e. mostly as a'ready means for providing the outer shell with the diaphragm I and a shoulder 8 to act as a stop for the. cap 9 of the holder. As is conventional, the upper portion of the outer shell may be provided with a interthreaded or projection H] to frictionally, but releasably, secure the cap 9 on the holder when the latter is not in use. The elevator H which holds the stick, e. g. a lipstick, is located within the upper portion of the outer shell, i. e. above the diaphragm 4, and is reciprocatable within this shell so that it can be moved to either project the stick from the opening at the upper end of the outer shell when the stick is to be used, or retract the stick into the outer shell for protection when not in use.

Within the lower portion l of the outer nes and below the diaphragm 4 a convoluted tube I2 is placed. This tube [2 is slightly smaller in diameter, externally, than the interior .of' the outer shell and thus fits loosely therein throughout its entire length, but at the same time the outer shell can give the tube 12 any sidewise support it may need to keep it substantially 'centered along the center line of the holder. The lowerend of the tube 12 rests on the inside of the internal flange of the outer shell. The finger piece 3 rests against the outer sideof this flange I of the lower portion l of the outer shell, i. e. bears against this flange at the side opposite the convoluted tube l2. The finger piece is fixedly connected to the convoluted tube l2 by a central portion [5 of the finger piece which is extended up through the opening IU of the flange 1; for this-purpose if desired, the lower end of i the tube H can be provided with an internal flange H pierced with a hole it a little smaller than the opening I6, and the central portion l5 of the finger piece 3 can be wrapped or broken down around the inner edge'of the flange ll thusexposed- The riser rotates freely within the opening 18. Accordingly, when the finger piece is rotated, with respect to i--2, the convoluted tube l2 rotates with it. If desired, a plug, e. g. a thin disc 2|, can be inserted in the hole left byforming the riser i5, to close this hole for finish.

. The elevator is mounted on the upper end of'a'bar'28 which extends through, and is reciprocatable within, the non-circular hole 5 in the diaphragm 4 of the upper part 2 of the outer shell, and is-correspondingly non-circular. Thus the elongated bar 29 may be of fiat stock and the hole 5 a slot, as before indicated. At its other end the elongated bar is attached nonrotata'bly-to'a short convoluted tube 23 which is located within the convoluted tube 12. The convolutions of the tube 23 are complementary to the'convolutions of the tube l2, and the two are intermeshed. Accordingly, when the outer tube I2 is rotated and the tube 23 is held-against rotation, one tube will move lengthwise of the other.

- In operation, the cap 9 is first removed of course. The finger piece 3 then is rotated by one hand while the other hand holds the outer shell [-2 to prevent rotation of the outer shell. The rotation of the finger piece 3 rotates the convoluted tube [2 through the riser l5. However the diaphragm 4 of the outer shell, because of the non-circular opening 5 andthe corresponding non-circular -form of the bar-20, prevents rotation of the cooperating convoluted tube 23. Ac-

cordingly the tube .23 moves lengthwise of the tube l2 and thus raises the elevator l l and pro-. jects. the stick. .To lower the stick again, the

finger piece 3 is rotated in the opposite direction.

The diaphragm 4 with the hole 5 and the flat bar 20 may be replaced by, e. g., the more conventional pin on the elevator I I projecting into a longitudinal slot. However, I prefer the arrangement illustrated for constructional reasons. Also the operating member need not be a short finger piece like the finger piece 3. If desired it can be a longer member of course. In these and other respects it is to be understood that my invention 'is not limited to the details of construction and operation described above in the specification and shown in the drawings, except as appears hereafter in the claims, and that these claims are to include equivalents of the elements mentioned in them as well as those elements themselves.

I claim:

1. In a holder for sticks, an outer shell having an opening at both ends and an internal projection at its lower end, a diaphragm located between the ends of and within the outer shell and having a non-circular opening through it, an' elevator within the outer shell between the diaphragm and the upper end of said shell and movable longitudinally from a projected to a retracted position and vice versa, a convoluted tube within the outer shell between the diaphragm and the lower end of said shell, rotatable therein and resting on the internal projection of the lower end of the outer shell, a second tube with convolutions'disposed within the first mentioned tube and with its convolutions inter-engaging with the convolutions of the first mentioned tube, an elongated carrier passing through the opening in the diaphragm and non-circular in section to prevent rotation therein, attached at its upper end to the elevator and at its lower end attached to the second convoluted tube, and an operating member extending into the lower end of the outer shell and attached to the lower end of the first mentioned tube and bearing against said internal projection of the outer shell at the opposite side of said projection from said first mentioned tube.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, characterized by the fact that the external diameter of the protruding surface of the convolutions of the first mentioned tube is only slightly smaller than the internal diameter of the outer shell between the diaphragm and lower end of the outer shell.

3. The subject matter of claim 2 characterized by the fact that the elevator carrier is a flat bar and the opening in the diaphragm is a slot.

4. The subject matter of claim 3, characterized by the fact that the second convoluted tube is of a short length relative to the'length of the first mentioned tube.

' EDWARD NOYACK.

v REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS 518,301 France Oct. 17, 1922 

